Born to Be Brave: Resisting a Culture of Domination
I have avoided this tangled snarl of questions and observations for four reasons. 1) 9/11 is a lose/lose topic. There is no way to speak without offense. 2) I have run into some friction when I have suggested that U.S. sponsored torture has anything to do with race. To suggest that anything that is not obviously, blatantly, unqualifiedly about race is, nonetheless, partly about race, is risky. I cannot prove my points here; I can only try to write my perceptions clearly. 3) There is little encouragement generally in the Christian world for feminist readings of popular culture. (Ditto above regarding lack of proof.) 4) I am still sorting through some fundamental, theological questions that emerged during the anti-torture conference. Hopefully something here is of use.
I heard a radio interview about trends in American television with Kathleen Turner recently. She has been on my imaginative radar ever since someone left a copy of this newspaper article on my doorstep last summer. Two things strike me most about Turner. She is not afraid of her sexuality, and she is not afraid of being perceived as a bitch. She is, as the NYT piece explains, a “broad.” Turner is now on stage playing another one of my favorite broads, investigative reporter and political writer (and fellow Texan) Molly Ivins. The radio interviewer noted that there seems to be something of a trend here, in that another brazen Texas woman, Ann Richards, was the subject of a one-woman play last year. Could it be that tough chicks are now chic?
